Overview of England's King Henry V

Outline of the Reign of Henry V - An English Medieval Hero

Aug 10, 2008

The second King of the Lancastrian dynasty, Henry V, ironically, was serving in Richard II's retinue when his father Henry Bolingbroke usurped the throne in 1399.

Acceding to the throne aged twenty five, Henry had spent much of his early life in pursuit of leisure, indeed was charged with being :”a diligent follower of idle practices…and fired with the torches of Venus herself”. However, on becoming King, Henry’s ruling qualities became evident.

A strong monarch with a firm sense of justice (even during the purges of the Lollard religious reformers he was ever anxious to offer mercy), Henry was also a brilliant general and strategist and loved by his people.

Warfare with France characterized Henry’s short reign as he sought to take back lost territory in Aquitaine and Normandy and reopen the claim to the French crown Edward III had made almost eighty years before.

Conquest abroad and the accompanying opportunities for plunder and ransom served to unite the usually factious nobility, and most of the landowning classes of England followed Henry across to France for his first invasion of 1415.

France was at that time facing internal turmoil that had largely divided the country into two armed camps; the Orleanists and the Burgundians. England allied herself with the weaker party, the followers of the Due of Burgundy, and in return Henry was promised support for his claim to the throne of France.

After a siege, the port of Harfleur on the northern French coast was taken, and was shortly followed by one of the greatest English military victories, Agincourt.

Fought on the 25th October near the village of Maisoncelles in northern France, the battle was essentially a last gasp attempt by Henry to break through French lines and lead his tired army to Calais and home.

Utilising the power of the long bow against the heavily armoured and vulnerable ranks of the French, Henry led his forces (numbered at around nine thousand), and defeated the Orleanist army three times larger, with the loss of only six hundred English lives.

Many of the most important members of the chivalry of Orleans fell at Agincourt, and the defeat left France almost at the mercy of England and her Burgundian allies.

Further Victories and A Recognised Claim to the French Throne

Henry launched another invasion in 1417 and took the city of Caen and other French strongholds in Normandy were captured later.

During a visit to London in 1416, Sigismund, the Holy Roman Emperor recognised Henry’s claim to the crown of Charles VI, and four years later at the Treaty of Troyes Charles himself made Henry a Regent of France and heir to the French throne upon his death.

Ranke, in his History of England claims :”The pedigrees of southern and western Europe alike met in the House of Lancaster, the head of which seemed to be the common head of all”, and this seems a fair argument when the branches of the House are examined.

Henry’s brother, John of Bedford, became the Queen of Naples‘ heir, the King of Castile and heir to the throne of Portugal were both descended from Henry’s father’s sisters, and after Henry’s death, his younger brother Humphrey married Jacqueline of Holland. The Lancastrians could boost of these familial ties, as well as an alliance with Burgundy and the support of the Holy Roman Emperor.

Thanks to the unifying effect of foreign campaigning, the nobility gave Henry very few problems during his reign. A plot in 1415 to put Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March on Henry’s throne was easily suppressed and did not have any widespread support. Henry showed clemency towards his cousin and spared his life, although other perpetrators were executed.

Relations between Parliament and the King remained stable too; Henry declared that no law should be passed without the backing of the House of Commons, who in turn were prepared to vote to allow the King the resources needed to keep up the war with France.

An Early Death

When he died in France, probably of dysentery, Henry was only thirty four or thirty five and had failed to outlive Charles VI and claim the French throne.

The Crown of England passed to his son, an infant of less than a year old who would see the resurgent French under Joan of Arc expel the English from the entire country (bar Calais) by 1453.

The copyright of the article Overview of England's King Henry V in Monarchs is owned by Ross Adkin. Permission to republish Overview of England's King Henry V in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.